Device for dispensing articles



Dec. 28; 1948. J. G. CASR\LINE 2,457,345

DEVICE FOR DISPENSING ARTICLES Filed June 20, 1945 Jam 0. 'cr'wm,

Patented Dec. 28, 1948 nEvlomommsrENsmdpmlc nse 191 1 L sismg sl ta d 1 Application June.;20,\1945;:Seria1No. 600, 13,911

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, u p i de ems-1. pensifig 2i 1i1@t 1; r im w netr qt opwhich is rugged and reliable in operation to,,delimit 0 e orvmope artiqles iron the device without h W mPl-Wine m w w w 9? erlr fd wm pl ins h eliver rticles-1 h ise t el p inai i t i i m tenal j Tpegesilient d'iaphragm or bottomwall .13 m mhers lfim f h aps es! h z kme embodie e b l ifie ntxi c I nsflnd rwid fiei evi i v id mw e L fi tiees-f i$P Jm 1 QY h bitin 'gth g inyentipn comprises a co taineriiiel udir g a b t tom Wall forr n ed 1ike a,diaphr a,gm,and ogreslh tti sphta ne n rma ar a ed l le e obstruct thejn iovem ent of an H penin t i d i m ma l em dv h ilb beg, synthetiol ru beg, orjany,suitable resilient sartisz e th u h -t e,

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l l1 r$33 i Y iew. a ns fd f ce mb s hei v io Fiel? i @L aken on h l n +3 of Fig. 2 and illustrating the normal positioiipf, he L :I???stem.wlx qhv proyides tigebgigtom wall s he. s is milere .t, ma1 view lustre the.

wad d 1 m; sistortiqns vv ebottqm walls-o. Fig. 5 is an end view illustrating the discharge 9914125 115 2 Pen q itio oi he ia m m is u eq sznel. iew 7 aken on er' nev I ir yeption relates to a. dispensing device I maxx esmnl xe d or e y na nd v dua 9s. bs rsti m; 91 s... ne ally phe a salf ail ' Lin heieb j elinui dre nk ii llypptwam ll q nt urmn ip he on n e clq i p n 9n, hane! n es ential fe t r pime inyen ens nm nnula int rad al ifiheor er In e .ilwt ratii mbod me ow -"m ,drawing a container is represented at HI 3N1;

m'ey sbe v y indr pal h ne and 7 o med; olig'ar y ul mble ate l.... he Lshja e'and the ime ns i. th jcqnt ihif 1 re Qtcritic l and t a t of tl e re oep ta cle may, also be of any cross s tio perfieinsd v t e ottomm a i J 1 M 16 QQn-T a neg illiszh i d qrmedpf, e t e y hinfi s lient, l uqhes ,rubbe r nequ v ent meterielw p o me. ap ra m", ember. substantially, gthfqlowez e nd. Of thQ contair er l 0, Inra emplars:, m qiment t. the v ntion thew' onq-r, ta ipez j l Q and thebottom wall, H are both formed 1 of hhepand int rally ssoeiated. w th; ther-h eb t mmemberfl .i s fi i n ly tv angispfithe containeI l0. 'I'he resilient diaphragm?" 12 adjacent the opening I4 is formed as, a. e13, yel t in. nn letl nfl uwhi z efin the ra e-a (U' the pen n -1 efl nner f ce. ,of then b t m member lppes. Sli h towa d th o en ngs. I4 m th v el mc er of t e t er Qtmt time. .rth or ,w ll: rollfi .8 s ion imme ately, lwemhed h r e mo nin h o e n w th passage of an article, such as a ball l1, through the opening.

A characteristic feature of the invention is that the opening 14 is dilated upon distortion of the resilient bottom wall 12, and when the diaphragm is moved out of its normal plane or position. This dilation of the opening takes place when the diaphragm is distorted axially of the container l whereby that portion of the diaphragm sur rounding the opening 14 is tensioned radially outward at all annular points to draw all annular portions of the lip l6 outwardly whereby the opening becomes dilated sufficiently for permitting a ball i1 to pass therethrough. This dis .torted condition of the diaphragm l2'is illus trated in Fig. 4 and it will beobserved that the lip I6 is retracted at all annular points which provides a dilated opening for the passage of an article therethrough.

Another feature of the invention pertains to means for distorting the diaphragm and which also serves to control the number of articles that are delivered upon distortion of the bottom wall.

Any suitable means may be provided for apply:

l2 and may be formed of any suitable material appropriately secured to the diaphragm.

Thus when pressure is applied to the lower end of thetubular member 22 or when it engages some relatively immovable surface 24 as represented in Fig. 4 and the containerv i0 is moved downwardly, the diaphragm 12 will be distorted out of its normal plane as will be appreciated upon consideration of Fig. 4 with regard to the normal position of the diaphragm as shown in Fig. 3. This distortion or arching of the diaphragm will cause dilation of the opening 14 .as hereinbefore explained, and one of the articles such as a ball 11 will escape through the dilated opening.

When it is desired to deliver a single article or ball i1 from the container the tubular member 22 is formed of a dimension greater than the maximum height of the article to be dispensed, or greater than the diameter of one of the balls 11 which are all of substantially the same diameter. The length of the. tubular member 22 when but one article is to be dispensed is however shorter than one and one-half diameters'of the balls; Such a structural arrangement provides that one ball only will pass through the 4 ticles to be dispensed may be introduced into the container 10. The slot 21 is narrower in width than the overall dimensions of the articles [1, but these articles may be readily introduced into the container through the slot 21 by distortion of the resilient cover 26. The boundary edge of the slot 21 preferably tapers as shown at 28 in the drawing so that a ball when moved into the slot 21 will be urged into the receptable 10 upon contraction of the resilient cover 26.

While the invention has been described with reference to specific structural details, it is apparent that changes may be made in the structure of the device without departing from the invention'which pertains to the shape and ar- .rangement of the resilient diaphragm l2 having opening and will be supported on the surface 7 rubber cover 26, but any type of lid may be at-,- 'tached to the .top of the container. In the ar- Iangement shown in the drawings a slot 21 is provided in the cover 25 through which the arthe opening l4 therein and means for applying of more than one'article from the dispensing de-f vice. Such changes may be made without*departing from the spirit and scope oftheinve'n tion as set iorth'in the appended" claims.

Iclaim:

1. In a device for dispensingindi'vidual'spher-*- ical shaped articles of substantially uniform-di ameter', a resilient diaphragm'forming the'bottom wall for the device and normally arranged in one plane and having. an opening therein of smaller" diameter than the diameter of anyone of saidspherical articlesyanda tubular membersurrounding the openingfor'moving the resilient diaphragm outside said plane and therebyenlarge the diameter of the opening for permitting anarticle topass therethrough.

2. In a device for dispensing individualarticles,j a container including a resilient diaphragm'fqrming the bottoni'jwall of the container, said diaphragm having anopernng therein of a diameter smaller. than the diameter of a ball to be dis; pensed from the container, a tubular member surrounding'the opening adjacent. the outer. face of the diaphragm for moving the bottomjjwall axially of the container to dilate the opening, and the length of said tubular member being" greater than the diameter of the ball and ofless length than one and one-half diameters of a'ball.

3. A dispensingv device com rising aholden having a chamber for receiving a plurality of ar- .ticles, the holder having an endfiwallwith a dilatable opening extending therethrough of a nofifmal diameter less than the diameter of vthe articles aforesaid, and a tube .carried by and pro jecting from the'endwalllcoaxial thereofjtheside Wall of the chamber being movable'in an axial direction relative to thetube for dilating l the opening. through the end wall of the holder ,l for" permitting the passage of one of; the articles I through the opening. H

4. A dispensing device one and a half times the diameter of the open- 5. Anarticle holding and dispensing device providing a chamber for containingta plurality of rigid articles, said device .being adapted to individually dispense the articles, and comprisingka side wall,. a bottom wall, and actubular member projecting from the bottom wall axially as recited in fclairh- .3

in which thetube in diameteris greater than the normal diameter of the opening; and in'length is greater than saidnorm al diameter but less than thereof, the said member and the side wall being rigid relative to the bottom wall, and the latter having an opening axially therethrough which in the normal position of the bottom wall is of less diameter than the articles aforesaid, said bottom wall permitting the relative movement of the tube and side wall in an axial direction for dilating the opening aforesaid for permitting the passage therethrough of an individual article, and the tube being of sufficient length to receive and house the individual articles.

6. A device for holding and dispensing rigid articles comprising a chamber having a dilatable orifice normally smaller than the cross-sectional area of the articles to be dispensed, means for dilating said orifice to permit the passage therethrough of said articles, said dilating means including a tube contiguous to the exterior of said orifice and smaller than the chamber for holding a predetermined quantity of said articles.

7. A device for holding and dispensing rigid articles comprising a chamber having a dilatable REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 820,067 Richardson May 8, 1906 20 1,201,963 Hill Oct. 17, 1916 1,955,559 Narrow Apr. 17, 1934 2,014,149 Stafiord Sept. 10, 1935 

